[/media-credit] Good news for germ-phobes: There are easy steps you can take each day to undercut kitchen sponge bacteria.

Every night after dinner, I try to make sure my kitchen is clean and germ-free.

The countertop gets wiped down and the dishes get put away.

But the dirtiest place in my kitchen isn’t my sink or even the trashcan… It’s the sponge.

In fact, your kitchen sponge is probably the dirtiest item in your house. It even harbors more germs than your toilet seat. A recent study by an independent health and public safety organization showed that more than 75 percent of sponges tested positive for coliform bacteria, which can cause food poisoning, and 18 percent of sponges had staph germs.

A tad warmer, a tad less snow: That’s what The Old Farmer’s Almanac for 2013 says is in store for Coloradans this winter.

We got special permish to tell you a few hours early what the 221st edition of the annual is going to predict for November of this year through October 2013. And while it won’t make Ski Country ecstatic, gardeners might be able to reap a little optimism.

The Fall Home Show is put on by the Colorado Garden & Home Show, a nonprofit that funds horticulture scholarships and grants for Colorado students and new garden projects. Tickets are $10 to $12 (seniors and those bearing a nonperishable food item for 9 Cares, Colorado Shares get a $2 discount; discounted tickets are also available at King Soopers and Tickets West Outlets). Kids 12 and under get in free.

In this July 1, 2012 file photo, sisters Nina Foster, 17, left, and Eliza Foster, 19, return to the remains of their family's home on Courtney Drive in the Mountain Shadows subdivision in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the first time since they were evacuated due to the Waldo Canyon Fire.

What follows is a guest essay from Angie Hicks, founder of AngiesList.com:

Colorado homeowners recovering from the devastating wildfires definitely need to watch out for scam artists.

Every time there’s a natural disaster or major storm — even sometimes with minor ones — we hear from consumers about storm chasers. I’ve even had one come to my door.

Storm chasers literally follow storms, sometimes in groups. They’re known for soliciting door-to-door with offers of immediate help with roof repair, limb or debris clean up, and similar chores homeowners face after a damaging event. They may pass themselves off as professional contractors, handymen, painters or roofers, but they are seldom reputable.

My wife and I do our best to keep our kitchen clean, but every once in a while we still get ants. These pesky creatures are social and live in colonies, so if you spot one, chances are there are more lurking around your home.

Ants aren’t a danger to your health, but they sure are annoying. Plus, it’s always gross to leave a bowl of cereal out by accident and find it filled with ants the next day! They’re also craftier than you realize. Because their eyesight is poor, they rely on each other and their strong sense of smell to move around and work as a team. By lifting twenty times their own body weight and working together, ants can quickly find and steal their favorite treats from your kitchen.

Follow these steps to keep ants out of your home and away from your pantry.

A mother and child get a shot of the tulips on Boulder's Pearl Street mall in 2006.

It’s a gardener’s grab bag: Boulder Parks and Recreation is giving away 300 to 400 bags of … how should I put it? Pre-bloomed tulip bulbs. Details: Starting at 10 a.m. Friday (Aug. 17) on the 1300 block of the Pearl Street Mall, in front of the Boulder County Courthouse.

What gives with the tulip giveaway? The city department change the variety and color of the tulips planted on the mall each year, putting in about 15,000 new bulbs annually. Once they’ve bloomed, they’re dug up to make room for summer annuals, and stored until just this time each August.

The Denver Parade of Homes' design challenge asked three different design teams to style three homes from the same set of furniture.

Imagine you’re a home designer. You’re given a stock set of furniture, a home to decorate, and you get to go up against two competitors who’ve also got the same couches, chairs, occasional tables and master-bedroom set – but in different homes.

That’s what three designers — Lauren Matthews of White Orchid Interiors; Jodi Rutherford and Susie Murphy of Design Lines; and Rutherford and Kris Yellen, also of Design Lines — took on in this year’s Denver Parade of Homes, which kicked off Aug. 9 and continues every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Labor Day weekend.

The homes are open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and the event is free. The parade’s website can search for homes in your area, customize a map and there’s even a mobile app to steer you to the ones you want to see.

As far as soft drinks go, Coca-Cola is one of my favorites. It tastes great, reminds me of when I was a kid, and I’ve always loved the commercials.

You might not know this, but Coke is more than just a carbonated beverage. Some of the ingredients in the drink, like citric acid, also make it a handy tool for a variety of home maintenance and cleaning tasks.

The Park People have announced their annual distribution of shade trees for fall planting.

It happens every year. Just when you think you’ve had enough wilting from summer’s heat comes the offer from Denver Digs Trees: Free trees, offered by The Park People, an organization whose mission is preserving and enhancing Denver’s parks, open spaces and urban forest. The group says that the past 20 years of tree distributions have added close to 44,000 trees to Denver’s skyline.

Becky Hensley is the co-founder of Share Denver - a community craft space in Park Hill. She's also the proud Ninja-in Chief of the Denver Craft Ninjas -- a women’s crafting collective dedicated to keeping the DIY spirit alive through laughter, shared skills, and cocktails.

Colorado native Mark Montano is an international designer, artist, author and television personality. He has appeared on TLC’s “While You Were Out” and “10 Years Younger,” as well as “My Celebrity Home” on the Style Network, “She’s Moving In” on We TV, “The Tony Danza Show” on ABC, and “My Home 2.0” on Fox.